"We have a huge opportunity in front of us to revolutionize the industry of search marketing."

That was Nicholas Fox, business product management director for Google AdWords, at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, Calif.

But how they might achieve that goal might require them to walk away slightly from their bread and butter approach of search-based keywords that advertisers bid on.

It's the same problem the advertising industry has grappled with: How to make search effective for brands beyond keyword buys of the most popular terms.

Typically, ad agencies create a large campaign in traditional media such as TV, print and radio which is intended to build awareness or drive trial for a given service or product.

Then, when it comes to the online execution of the campaign, usually an afterthought, they simply carry the same creative elements over to websites and banner ads without much thought for search integration.

The result is that consumers may actually find the commercials on YouTube easier than they could find the retail store featured in it, let alone any deals associated with the brand.

Google wants to improve on this with better use of location-based searches, as well as voice- and image-based search features to take advantage of the growing smartphone market. (So too, rival Bing.)

This goes beyond a product-focused search to a service-based one, from things such as restaurant finders to repair services.
Say someone is out and gets lost while walking or driving in a city.

With their iPhone and its built-in GPS, they find their bearings and the nearest restaurant or hardware store, depending on what they need.

They then call or text to make a reservation or to check hours. That they do this all without the help of a traditional ad campaign points out the great divide between brands and consumers.

Is search-based the wave of the future? Google seems to think so.